Expansion of travel ban in 2026 creating additional difficulties for Lincoln refugees
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The new travel ban placed on eight additional countries by the Trump administration has officially taken effect for 2026.
Some communities of people from the nations impacted are casting doubts.
“It was a shock for my community and for me because all Syrians here, especially in Lincoln, Nebraska, are refugees, not immigrants,” said Abdul Razzak Alkoutaini.
Alkoutaini is a Syrian refugee who now works in Lincoln as a social worker for the Department of Health and Human Services.
Before that, he was a case manager at Catholic Social Services for other refugees.
Alkoutaini points out the aid that CSS provided him and others so that they could build a life here.
He was 12 years old when his family left the war-torn country of Syria.
They traveled through Lebanon and Egypt and lived under restrictions, including an inability to work, making their time there about survival.
“Since then, my family and I were just moving around from place to place, city to city, country to country; we needed stability in our lives,” said Alkoutaini.
After filing paperwork, obtaining federal approvals, and waiting years, his family finally had the chance to live a safe, everyday life in Lincoln.
A goal, he says, shared by most refugees who come here.
“That’s why they are refugees,” he said. “We need to know that we will live here, study here, get married here, have children here, and when we were told we could come here, that was our chance to get stability back, but it’s just getting harder.”
Alkoutaini says this is a reminder of the rocky road many refugees took to get here, but it is also presenting new worries.
“A family or a family member moved here, but the rest of their family is still back in Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, wherever,” said Alkoutaini.
“Now, they can’t get their spouses here, they can’t go visit them”.
He adds that it’s not just about the travel ban. “They are uncertain if this travel ban will end their residency here,” he said.
The Trump administration cites national security as the main reason for its decision.
Alkoutaini says he understands that, but “Everyone who comes here goes through intense background checks, so this travel ban, I believe, is political.”
He points out that refugees are being affected the most by this ban, when it shouldn’t be the case.
“Most of them have nothing; this is all they have, their life here,” said Alkoutaini.
The travel ban is personally affecting him because he is currently unable to get the paperwork he needs to prove that he earned a degree in pharmaceutical studies while in Egypt.
At this time, there is no word on when the ban will be lifted.
